Microsoft will make announcements this week about its strategy for managing user identities which could well end speculation about its plans for implementing federated identity technology into its products.

While Microsoft is not providing details about the announcement, the news will, reportedly, involve initiatives involving Microsoft and identity management company Oblix. Microsoft has long-standing relationships with independent software vendors (ISVs) like Oblix and OpenNetworks Technologies. The company calls on Oblix's NetPoint and OpenNetworks DirectorySmart to tie Windows networks using Microsoft's Active Directory service to other non-Windows directory systems relying on user authentication technology such as Kerberos, according to Gartner analyst John Pescatore.

The future of Microsoft's "TrustBridge" federated identity technology might be at stake. Microsoft announced TrustBridge just over a year ago, saying that the new technology would enable businesses using Windows to share user identity information and interoperate across heterogenous environments using web services protocols such as Kerberos and Soap.